VINTAGE

IMPORTANT CURRENT AFFAIRS OF SEPTEMPER 7^th,  2019

              IMPORTANT CURRENT AFFAIRS OF SEPTEMBER  7^th , 2019

1.     President Ramnath Kovind will embark on a 3-Nation tour to Iceland, Switzerland and Slovenia from 9th to 17th September 2019.

a.      The visit will enhance mutual understanding in the field of climate change, green technology, geothermal energy, Culture, Tourism and agriculture.

b.      In Iceland and Switzerland, the President will address youth in their respective universities. 

i)      In Switzerland, he will unveil a bust of Father of the Nation Mahatma Gandhi on the occasion of 150th birth anniversary of Bapu. 

c)     Note : This will be the 1st-ever visit of Indian President to Slovenia that became Independent in 1991. 

2.     The 6th India-China Strategic Economic Dialogue (SED) began in New Delhi today.

a.      The 3-day dialogue will comprise of round table meetings of joint working groups on infrastructure, energy, high-tech, resource conservation, pharmaceuticals and policy coordination. 

b.      The Indian side will be led by Niti Aayog Vice-Chairman Dr Rajiv Kumar and the Chinese side by Chairman of National Development and Reforms Commission (NDRC).

3.     To commemorate 20 years of ‘Vijay Diwas’ or ‘Kargil Vijay Diwas’ (named after successful Operation Vijay), the Indian Air Force (IAF) is organising an ultra-marathon named as ‘Kargil to Kohima (K2K): Glory Run’ spanning over 4,500 km from Kargil to Kohima. 

a.      The marathon run was flagged off by Air Chief Marshal B S Dhanoa in a ceremony held at Vayu Bhavan in New Delhi.

4.     PM Narendra Modi today inaugurated the 1st coach for Mumbai Metro which has been manufactured under the 'Make in India' programme. 

a.      He also laid foundation stone for 3 metro lines in the city. 

5.     The West Bengal Legislative Assembly has passed a resolution against implementation of National Register of Citizens (NRC) in the state. 

a.      "The implementation of the NRC is nothing but a political vendetta of the BJP-led central government," CM Mamata Banerjee said. 

6.     Union Minister of Environment, Forest and climate change Prakash Javdekar today inaugurated the new building of Wildlife Institute of India in Dehradun (Uttarakhand).

7.     To commemorate the 550th Prakash Parv of Guru Nanak Dev ji, the Delhi Government has organized a 3-day Gurbani Sangeet Samagam at Talkotora stadium.

8.     Event Horizon Telescope (EHT) team of researchers responsible for the 1st real image of a black hole has won a $3-million award 'Breakthrough Prize' in fundamental physics. 

a.      The image took 347 astrophysicists across 60 institutions in 20 different countries and eight high-powered telescopes to be captured. 

9.     On occasion of Swachh Mahotsav 2019 held at Vigyan Bhavan in New Delhi, President of India Ram Nath Kovind presented an award to Indian Railways as Best Ministries for Implementation of Swachhata Action Plan for 2018-19.

10.India's second Moon mission Chandrayaan-2's Vikram Lander has lost contact with ground stations when it was 2.1 km away from the Moon's surface.

a.      ISRO has announced that there is no communication with the lander. It's as good as lost.

11.The Indian Air Force (IAF) has completed Level-1 of selecting astronauts for India's first manned space mission, Gaganyaan. 

a.      Selected test pilots were subject to extensive physical, laboratory, radiological, clinical and psychological evaluations.

b.      Note : Aimed to be launched by 2022, the ₹10,000-crore Gaganyaan mission will fly 3 Indian astronauts in low-Earth orbit for up to a week.

12.The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has barred Equitas Small Finance Bank from opening new branches and froze CEO PN Vasudevan's pay at the current level after it missed the deadline to get its shares listed. 

a.      Note : A small finance bank has to be listed within three years of touching a net worth of ₹500 crore. 

b.      For Equitas, the three-year period lapsed on September 4.

13.Canara Bank has invited bids to divest its entire 30% stake in its housing finance arm Can Fin Homes. 

a.      The state-owned lender called off a similar move last year after receiving a lower than expected price quotation.

b.      This comes a week after Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman proposed the merger of the Bengaluru-headquartered bank with Syndicate Bank.

14.The People's Bank of China (PBOC)  (China's central bank) has announced that it is cutting the amount of cash that banks must hold as reserves, releasing a total $126.35 billion in liquidity. 

a.      The nank has now cut the Reserve Requirement Ratio (RRR) 7 times since early 2018. 

b.      China's economic growth slowed to a near 30-year low of 6.2% in the April-June quarter.

15.The Committee of Administrators (CoA) of  BCCI has appointed a 3-member Independent Supervisory Committee to run the cricketing affairs of Bihar Cricket Association (BCA) and also conduct fresh elections.

a.      The CoA, chaired by Vinod Rai, took the decision after deliberating on the issue during a meeting in Mumbai yesterday.

b.      The Committee will have the power to supervise, regulate and suspend the powers, duties and functioning of all post holders in the BCA, appoint or replace electoral officer, ombudsman and ethics officer.

16.Former Pakistan leg-spinner Abdul Qadir (63) died after suffering a cardiac arrest in Lahore. 

a.      Qadir played for Pakistan in 67 Tests and 104 ODIs between 1977 and 1993. 

b.      Qadir also represented Pakistan in two World Cups (1983 and 1987) and after retirement, he also served as chief selector and also as a commentator.

17.Afghanistan all-rounder Mohammad Nabi has announced that he will retire from Test cricket after the conclusion of the ongoing one-off Afghanistan-Bangladesh Test.